Mar 7 Woman Goes on Speaking Tour With Her Rapist

“A talk by rapist and his victim, which was planned to take place at a women’s festival in London, may be cancelled after a petition was launched to deny him a platform.

Rapist Tom Stranger was due to appear with his victim Thordis Elva at the 2017 Women of the World festival at the Southbank Centre next week. The two have written a book, South of Forgiveness, about the attack and its impact on their lives.

Southbank Centre artistic director Jude Kelly said the organisers were “taking the time to listen to different viewpoints before deciding the most appropriate way forward” after seeing the strength of feedback. “Rape is one of the most complex and difficult issues that all societies around the world struggle to deal with, every day,” she said in a statement.

Adding that “conversations about blame are mostly focused around the survivor not the perpetrator”, Kelly said the event had been programmed so one woman could “share her journey of coming to terms with the devastating impact of her rape and her decision to invite her perpetrator to take full responsibility for his actions”.”